Russian-Bulgarian relations after the Bulgarian parliamentary elections: outcomes and forecasts

Abstract

The article examines the results of the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria held on 4 April and 11 July 2021. It compares the results of the leading political parties in the 2017 and 2021 elections, and describes all leading Bulgarian political parties represented in parliament from 2017 to 2021. The results of the government led by GERB party leader Boyko Borisov, formed as a result of the 2017 elections, are analyzed. The reasons for this government's falling rating and its impact on the election campaign are identified. How the coronavirus pandemic and the government's actions to deal with its consequences have affected the course and results of the election campaign. The activities of the country's main opposition parties, the centre-left Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Social Liberal Movement for Rights and Freedoms, are assessed. The course of the election campaign and its main topics are examined, as well as the new political parties that were elected to the parliament: the left-populist coalition "Rise Up! Mafia Get Out!", the right-populist party "There's Such a People!", and the liberal coalition "Democratic Bulgaria". The positions of the leading political parties of the country regarding their possible participation in the new government coalition are shown. The state of Russian-Bulgarian relations is analyzed and forecasts of how the results of the elections will affect the formation of the new government of that country and the relations between Russia and Bulgaria are given.